Fallen Heros
by ShadowOfApate
Summary: Werewolf The Apocalypse Xover. Willow is deeply involved in a tribal war.


Title: Fallen Hero's

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: One

Pairing: Willow/Tara

Fandom: BtVS/Werewolf the Apocalypse

Timeline: A year and a half after the season finale  
of this season.

Spoliers: Oh yeah, anything and everything is up  
for grabs.

Beta Reader: Dark Gremlin

Summary: Willow starts the process of getting her  
life back on track over a year after she believed  
that Tara died. Only, when she arrives back in  
Sunnydale, she finds that her dead lover isn't so  
dead.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon,  
Mutant Enemy, and Paramount pictures. Werewolf the  
Apocalypse belongs to white wolf productions and  
minds eye theatre.

----------  
PROLOGUE  
----------

The boulder's surface, stained with blood and  
spittle, darkened as the red haired female hoarsely  
screamed uncoherently. Skin ravaged by hunger,  
deep bites, and claw wounds, half healed and scabbed,  
broke open from her thrashing against the heavy  
chains that kept her trapped on the slab. Her short  
red hair was sweat soaked and becoming increasingly  
blood splattered, sticking to her hollowed, pale  
skin. What had once been faded cargo pants was torn  
and shredded, soiled material.

Her screams cut off in a bout of coughing and  
exhaustion. The tension unwound leaving her hanging  
by the chains. Each gasp and sob was deafening  
amidst the forest clearing, bringing tears to  
the small groups eyes.

The oldest of the nine nodded to the dark haired  
teenager. The raven haired male pushed up on his  
glasses then wearily approached the boulder slab  
that stood in the middle of the tiny clearing.  
With shaking hands, Jeffrey unlocked the manacles  
and lowered the unconscious red head onto the ground.

The groups Elder kneeled beside the red head, her  
greying brown hair glinting from the moonlight. The  
piercing hazel eyes glowed as they shifted over the  
younger females body before stopping on the matching  
long thick scars that ran across the inside of her  
wrists. The Elder's hand danced over the imperfect  
blemishes, checking for the fetish. The almost non-  
existent tingle was all that was necessary to  
confirm the scar fetish had been performed and  
successful.

" What does it do? " Jeffery asked.

" It makes her immune to Wyrm eminations. "  
Kathy sadly brushed the sweat and blood  
matted red hair from the younger woman's  
face. " I just wish it hadn't been to late  
to stop the initial taint. "

" What do we do now? "

Kathy patted the newest tribal member's  
hand, letting him know that she didn't mind  
his constant curiosity. " Now we begin the  
Rite of Cleansing. " The leader glanced over  
the seven remaining members. " Margerat, I  
need you to prepare a tattoo fetish for  
healing. "

" Yes, Elder. " Margerate replied,  
disappearing into the trees.

" But that'll heal her! "

Kathy barely paid the outraged teen any  
attention as she began to use a sponge to  
wipe away the blood. " That's the general  
idea. "

Jeffery gaped at his tribes Elder hoping  
that he'd somehow missed something. " B-but  
... Look the bitch betrayed everything Gaia  
teaches us. She's nothing but a traitor,  
murderer, addict, and worst of all she's a  
black spiral dancer. You can't...!!!! "

" Silence, Kitten!!! " The Elder yelled,  
raising to her feet with a deadly grace that  
left Jeff backing away in fear. " Willow is a  
valued member of this tribe, and she is not  
a dancer. "

" You said she..."

Kathy growled, taking a swift step closer  
to the teen. " I said that she'd been tainted.  
That does not mean that she walked the Spiral. "

Jeff bowed his head to the Elder in a show  
of submission. " Forgive me Elder. I guess I  
don't understand. "

" When we are touched or infected by the  
Wyrm, there are still ways to cleanse our  
bodies and soul. It's only when we've walked  
the Black Spiral Circle that we are permanently  
lost to Gaia. "

" I still don't understand how you can heal  
her. Doesn't our traditions forbid healing anyone  
that is punished by their tribe? "

" And normally I would abide by those traditions,  
but this isn't a normal situation. Our kind are  
almost completely gone, and we need each and  
everyone of our kind if we are going to fight  
the Wyrm. Willow especially, is needed in the  
fight. She is a strong shaman, with unusually  
powerful abilities. "

" But... "

" When she came to us, she was already  
considerably weakened, and with her current  
wounds, I doubt she could survive losing the  
energy needed to heal those kinds of injuries. "

" Elder, the circle has been prepared. "  
Jennifer softly interrupted.

Kathy stood back letting David carry Willow's  
fragile, prone body to the nearby field. It was  
usually a simple process, but tonight, under  
the Ahroun moon the Rite of Cleansing was going  
to be extremely difficult.

The physical taint alone would take hours  
to purge. The emotional, mental, and astral  
scars were a hundred times worse. Even after  
the Rite was through the young Shaman would  
have a long journey ahead to refind Gaia's  
way and Gaia's children's respect.

-----------  
CHAPTER ONE  
-----------

Dawn causally glanced up from her Algebra  
homework to check on Tara. She was becoming  
more and more worried about the blonde witch,  
and Tara wasn't the only one she was concerned  
for. The entire Scooby gang was under a blanket  
of sadness and worry. At first she'd thought  
that they'd find Willow and help her but as the  
days turned into weeks and months, she realized  
that the red haired hacker wasn't coming back.

Even now, a year and a half after the events  
that sent the red head over the edge, she still  
had vivid nightmares that had her screaming out  
for Tara and Willow. Every time she would climb  
into bed with the blonde witch, clinging to her  
surrogate mother while sobbing.

Each dream was the same. Warren shooting Buffy, and a stray bullet hitting Tara. The blonde collapsing  
into Willow's arm's, dead. The red head's  
berserker grief that drove her into going on a  
magical rampage that killed Warren and Rack.

" What's wrong? " Tara asked.

Dawn turned her gaze to Tara to make sure  
that she was really alive. It still amazed  
her how a large bear had brought the witch  
back a few hours after her death. " Nothing.  
Just thinking. "

Tara climbed up onto the stool by the  
display case. Pointedly ignoring Anya's  
loud rant about the sales taxes being lowered.  
" About Willow? "

" I miss her. " Dawn admitted. Tara and  
Willow had been the closest thing she'd had  
to parents. It hadn't been forced on them,  
or caused by some spell, it had been the two witches  
choice. " Do...Do you think she'll ever  
come back? "

" I know she will. " Tara stated firmly.  
" She just needs time to work things out for  
herself. "

" Oh please, she's probably over dosed by  
now, or become some sort of whacked out serial  
killer. " Anya shot out, despite the gang's  
various winces and glares.

" I'm glad to see you have so much faith  
in me. " A new voice spoke up from the training  
room's doorway. When everyone looked over at  
the red head, Willow grinned evilly. " You know,  
it's not safe leaving the back door unlocked. "

Tara gasped softly at the sight of her lover.  
The gorgeous, wavy dark red hair was now cut  
within a couple of inches of her scalp. It  
was a simple choppy pixie cut that was obviously  
done for practical reasons, rather than for  
looks.

The slender, pale skinned woman was wearing  
extremely thin, almost see through white yoga  
pants. A large over sized thin white long  
sleeved button up top was over a white tank  
top. The sleeves barely covered the dark brown  
leather wrist guards that took up half of the  
red heads fore arms. A pair of brown leather  
out doors sandals completed the outfit.

Tara stood up slowly, unsure whether to hug  
the red head or to be on guard. Her instincts  
told her that the red head was over her dark  
magic addiction, and had mostly recovered from  
everything that had happened. But the Scooby in  
her wanted to play it safe.

Before she could make up her mind, Dawn ran  
across the short distance and threw herself  
into Willow's arms, knocking the weak woman  
back into the wall.

" We were so worried, and we couldn't find  
you, and Anya keeps going on about how you  
were dead but you're not and..."

" It's good to see you to Dawnie. " Willow  
said in a raw voice.

" Are you okay? " Tara finally asked,  
approaching her lover.

" I'm better than I was. "

" You don't seem surprised that Tara's  
alive. " Buffy commented.

Willow actually smiled at the slayer.  
" Angel told me about what happened. "

Tara felt her hands clench and glanced  
over at Buffy to make sure that she wasn't  
the only one wanting to kill the souled  
vampire. " When did you see Angel? "

" Cordy and him came to see me while  
I was in jail. " Willow cocked her  
eyebrow at the gang. " I asked them not  
to tell you where I was. "

" Why? " Xander came forward, his  
dark eyes hardening at the idea of  
Angel knew where his best friend was.

" There was a lot I had to figure  
out, and even more that I had to  
find peace with. "

Tara glared Xander quiet. " The only  
thing that matters is that you're home  
now. "

" For now. "

Tara closed the distance between her  
and her lover. " Will... "

The red head dropped her gaze, " We  
need to talk. "

---------


End file.
